Kristen Elliott Named Vice President, Group Publisher, of the AMI Women's Active... -- NEW YORK, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Kristen Elliott Named Vice President, Group Publisher, of the AMI Women's Active Lifestyle Group

NEW YORK, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- David J. Pecker, Chairman, President and CEO of American Media, Inc. (AMI), today announced the appointment of Kristen Elliott as Vice President, Group Publisher of the AMI Women's Active Lifestyle Group, which includes the Shape, Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health brands. Ms. Elliott will also assume the role of Publisher of Shape, the leading active lifestyle brand for women and one of American Media's most popular magazines and websites.

Most recently, Ms. Elliott was publisher of Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health. She has been with AMI for 8 years and was one of the first publishers to recognize the importance of digital, playing a key role in the development of FitPregnancy.com. Prior to joining AMI, she worked at Time Inc., Conde Nast and TheKnot.com.

"Kristen's performance and work ethic since she has been with AMI merited this promotion," said Mr. Pecker. "As publisher of Fit Pregnancy, she never once missed her budget and succeeded in making the brand a must buy for advertisers in the parenting category. She has worked closely with the Shape staff in the past on integrated programs and thoroughly understands the health & fitness marketplace."

As the new publisher of Shape, Ms. Elliott takes charge of a brand that held the leading market share among its competitive set in print ad pages for 2011, while also having the fastest growing web site, with a 168% increase in Unique Visitors to 2 million.

Ms. Elliott said, "I am excited that in my new role I will have the chance to not only further build the Shape brand, but to continue working with Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health. I want to thank David for the confidence he has shown in me and also say that AMI is truly a company which offers opportunities for personal growth for everyone who works there."

Publishers for Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health will be named shortly. They will report to Ms. Elliott, who will also oversee the web sites for these magazines as well. Ms. Elliott will continue to report to Mr. Pecker.

About American Media, Inc.

American Media, Inc. owns and operates the leading print and digital celebrity and health and fitness media brands in the United States. AMI's titles include Star, OK!, National Enquirer, Globe, Soap Opera Digest, Shape, Men's Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health. AMI also manages 18 different digital sites including RadarOnline.com, OKmagazine.com, Shape.com, MensFitness.com, MuscleandFitness.com and FitPregnancy.com. AMI's magazines have a combined total circulation of almost 7 million and reach more than 55 million men and women each month. AMI's digital properties reach an average of 10 million unique visitors and 80 million page views monthly.

AMI also operates a Publishing Services business unit which includes Distribution Services, Inc. (DSI), the No. 1 in-store magazine sales and merchandising marketing company in the U.S. and Canada. DSI places and monitors AMI's publications and third-party publications to ensure proper displays in major retail chains and national and regional supermarket chains. DSI also provides marketing, merchandising and information gathering services to third parties including non-magazine clients. Publishing Services also provides print and digital advertising sales and strategic management direction in the following areas: manufacturing, subscription circulation, logistics, event marketing and full back office financial functions. Playboy is one of many publishers who have taken advantage of these additional services.